4 or 5 string bass

[chaztrip]

4 or 5 sting bass? Old time guitar player here that is looking at getting a bass. I tune my guitar to d and I don’t know which route to go for the bass. I have heard that if I get a 4 sting and tune it to D I could have neck and intonation problems? More so then guitar? Also had a friend tell me to get a 5 string and leave it standard tuning? How is that going to match up to my guitar?

Thanks and sorry for such Noob questions about this.
Chaz

 

[Morgan138]

You shouldn't have any trouble playing a 4-string bass in D. The strings will be looser (which some people like for playing slower stuff) if you don't change them, but if you get them slightly heavier than you would normally use for E tuning it should balance out.

Just check your intonation and keep an occasional eye on the neck, and you should be fine.

 

[aberration]

Not to hijack the thread, but I'm in a similar situation and am looking at the Warwick Corvette Taranis (comes tuned B E A D). Looking at literature available on the Warwick site, it doesn't look like there's any reason why it couldn't be strung normally and tuned down, as recommended in the last post.
Anybody know for sure?

 

[D_Absolute]

I'm telling you, chazzy ...
Just get a 5-string.


What Morgan said: If you want to drop a 4-string down a whole step, you won't have problems, necessarily. You may need to adjust your neck and intonation.

 

[chaztrip]

5 string it is then!!